12 VDC 8D vs: 6 VDC Golf Cart Batteries

[bigwalt]

I am restoring a 45' sailboat. It now is setup for two 12 VDC 8D batteries - but both of them are dead - so I need to replace them. Am I better off replacing them with new deep cycle 8D's - or replacing them with two sets of deep cycle 6 VDC golf cart style batteries? I'd appreciate any comments, recommendations

[k1vsk]

There are so many opinions which is preferable that it gets silly listening to all the reasons and what-if's. Which would you rather carry, lift, install and replace when the time comes?

[bigwalt]

Words of wisdom from K1 land ! Thank you ! I never gave the "logistics" much thought - but let me tell you - those dead 8D's were a real PITA to remove and take off the boat. 6 Volt lead acid deep cycle batteries have just moved to the top of my list !!

[mitiempo]

Not only are the 6 volt golf cart batteries easier to move around but 2 golf carts will give you 220 AH or more and the 8D less AH.

[DwayneSpeer]

Not only are the golf cart bats easier to handle I bet they are less expensive too. Just be careful. A friend bought and installed 4 golf cart batteries 15 months ago to find they were dead this Spring and he was unable to restore them. Turns out he got 8 volt batteries by mistake and didn't recognize it. His charger just ruined them over the winter.

[captbillc]

i have two sets of 6V golf cart bats on my 30ft nimble. they work great. they were put in in 2002 & i expect them to last for a long time yet.

[GaryHLucas]

I have a lot of experience with golf cart batteries. I used to build battery powered bench pusher machinery for commercial greenhouses, and also built watering machines that ran off of 8-6 volt batteries. My one customer had 132 batteries to maintain! The single most important thing you can do is buy a GOOD multistage charger. They used to get just two years out of every brand of battery they tried. I finally convinced them to buy some decent chargers, and we got a good price on them, because we bought 75 of them at one time. Now some of their batteries are almost 8 years old and still servicable. More importantly they are never found dead just when you need them.

Gary H. Lucas

[mitiempo]

I agree Gary - with any battery a proper charger will maximize their service life.

[MJBrown]

Just replaced a pair of 4Ds with 4 Trojan T105s. Much easier to handle plus 450 AH vs the previous 380. Got them for $120 each from a small local golf cart supply business in the Phila area.

[JonnyQuest]

I like the idea of the golf cart batteries as well for my future replacements. Do you need to replace them all at the same time? If one dies prematurely halfway through its life, will replacing that single battery drag down the other batteries or will the single replacement be adequate?